


It's Been Good

by InfinityIllusion



Series: Old Dust [3]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Chad does not like Karakura Town (the place -- person is still pending), Chad got assassin training nbd, Chad is channeling Bruce Banner's philosophy, Chad might be underestimating Uryuu and Orihime, Friendship, Gen, Karakura high school is terrified, Male - Female Friendship, Male Friendship, Orihime Inoue is BAMF, Orihime doesn't really feel warm fuzzies for the Shinigami, Tatsuki Keigo and Mizuiro get an explanation, That's pretty normal at this point, Uryuu also doesn't like Kurosaki Isshin, Uryuu really doesn't like the Shinigami, but he asks good questions, he also doesn't like feeling helpless, runes and such are a thing what was that about advanced technology Kurotsuchi?, slightly manipulative Orihime, that's okay his plans are flexible, touch Tatsuki and Orihime will gut you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-25 10:44:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6191992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfinityIllusion/pseuds/InfinityIllusion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uryuu's grandfather always wished Uryuu would have a friend.</p><p>Well, that wish came true, but it's brought a lot of consequences that Ishida Sōken probably didn't intend for, and Uryuu is ill prepared to face (until he's not).</p><p>~</p><p>Orihime is a healer.  But there's something to be said for strategy, for planning, for manipulation, and the stubbornness to prevent the catastrophe her boys and she were involved in from happening ever again.</p><p>They will heal.  She'll make sure of it (or at least give them the chance).</p><p>~</p><p>Chad doesn't appreciate being left behind, but now that he's the one ahead (or at least the one with powers), he has plans to make and facilitate to ensure that Ichigo doesn't get left behind.  Neither will Orihime, Ishida, or Yuzu get left behind.</p><p>~<br/>Or: Uryuu, Orihime, and Chad's views on Ichigo losing his powers, how they cope, and how they try to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ishida's Mix

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Wanderlust](https://archiveofourown.org/works/896232) by [cywscross](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cywscross/pseuds/cywscross). 



> A big thank you goes to both spj, for putting up with me bouncing ideas off her (read: spamming her with random fics) even though she isn't familiar with Bleach, and to bookworm83197, who has so generously beta'd this fic (and is willing to do the others! Yay!). Any mistakes here are my own.
> 
> Regarding Kurosaki Isshin: I...really don't like him as a character and especially as a father figure in Bleach. None of his kids take him seriously, his sole connection with Ichigo is based upon violence, and while he does, occasionally, show depth it is by no means a justification for his actions. Some of this is me, based upon my experiences, reacting to his actions, some of this is my opinion on his character. Either way, this does come out a bit here, and may come out more strongly in following fics.
> 
> I am planning on creating a short series for the "Humans" (Ishida, Orihime, Chad), the Shinigami (Rukia, Renji, Urahara -- characters subject to change), and Family (Karin, Isshin, Yuzu). We'll see how far I get :)
> 
> In addition, this particular portion of Old Dust was inspired by cywscross's Wanderlust. I thank her for allowing me to use the concept of Ichigo wandering in this fic!

* * *

 

 ** ~~~~Warning:** (non explicit) references to canon human experimentation, trauma

 **Summary:**  

Uryuu's grandfather always wished Uryuu would have a friend.

Well, that wish came true, but it's brought a lot of consequences that Ishida Sōken probably didn't intend for, and Uryuu is ill prepared to face (until he's not).

Ishida's view on Ichigo losing his powers, how he copes, and how he tries to help.

* * *

Somewhere, Ishida Uryuu is sure that his grandfather is frowning in disappointment. Oh, sure, Uryuu knows (intimately, having heard Kurotsuchi Mayuri speak of the various experiments he’d wanted to perform on Uryuu, that he hadn’t been able to practice on the elder Ishida) that his grandfather is dead, and his soul has returned to the cycle of reincarnation. Still, Uryuu is positive that wherever his grandfather’s soul had ended up, it would be frowning at him.

Ishida Sōken had always wanted him to spend more time with children his age, had always wanted Uryuu to have a friend (had always wanted to bridge the gap between Shinigami and Quincy).

Well, he’d had one (and had done as his grandfather had dreamed, even if Kurosaki was not fully a Shinigami, and was never going to fit that mold anyways). Still, Uryuu is sure that he’s never done anything to deserve Kurosaki Ichigo, ever, in this life or a previous one. Whether or not he means that as a compliment to his fellow high school student and former fellow spirit fighter is something that Uryuu will only acknowledge in the depths of the night, or the middle of a fight. Acknowledge and then push aside because it no longer matters.

Uryuu has never believed he’d make a very good friend, after all. He could hardly live up to what expectations his cold bastard of a father set for him, and those were few and relatively far between. If he couldn’t give up protecting, saving, destroying souls for his father, his only remaining family, how could he compromise on this for a friendship?

But, he sometimes thinks that Kurosaki understands (understood) all too well that challenge and compromise. Kurosaki has his sisters to think about, and from what Uryuu knows, the youngest is a pacifist for all her twin is a spitfire that follows in Kurosaki’s footsteps.

(Perhaps too well. He’d seen her around the Shōten, when he was chasing down a random Hollow here and there. Uryuu made an even greater point to avoid the shop after that.)

From the corner of his eye and over the top of his book, Uryuu watches Kurosaki stare out the window. It is…disconcerting, to say the least, that Kurosaki is no longer leaking power like a faucet (not that Uryuu had felt it for those minutes the other teen had transcended and Aizen hadn’t even known). And it is that, that lack of power, which makes it so hard to remember the other teen.

Kurosaki is dead to Uryuu’s senses.

Obviously, the teen is still alive (no doubt the Shinigami would have been the first to know if he’d died and snap him up for their own ends then and there), but he is just another soul in a sea of unremarkable people, for all that his hair still retains its vibrant orange hue.

For that matter, Kurosaki’s behavior allows him to blend disturbingly well into the background with the other students. It hadn’t been an abrupt shift, like his power was intimately tied to his will, his drive (and _of course it was_ , their power is soul deep and Kurosaki has had access to it for…a very long time if not his entire life), and Kurosaki has become…diminished. Kurosaki is no longer the same one that fought in front of and along side Uryuu in his memories and it is painful to see how the lack of power has eroded the strength of his (he can admit it) friend.

Uryuu can also admit, to himself, that such a change is frightening.

~IiI~

The week after Aizen’s defeat, Uryuu had floated around, trying to help when possible, while staying as far away from the remaining Shinigami as he physically could. Sure, he’d been roped into explaining the entire situation to Arisawa, Kojima, and Asano, but he’d needed to be useful in different ways. Uryuu had just spent who knows how long wandering through a hostile dessert, repeatedly fighting for his life and the lives of the others who’d come to save him and Sado. He’d needed to shoot some things that weren’t a major threat to his safety, to not think and decompress.

~IiI~

(Three weeks later, a mysterious package arrives at the Kurosaki’s house, and Inoue and Sado’s respective apartments as well. There are a variety of dresses for Inoue and the girls (some with few to no ruffles for one of the Kurosaki twins who’d prefer it if she never had to wear another skirt or dress despite the uniform she’s forced to don for school), and shirts and other accessories for Kurosaki and Sado. Noticeably, Kurosaki Isshin gets nothing from this mysterious clothes maker.

Kurosaki Ichigo, who notices the abnormal number of crosses on everything – even socks – despite how well the majority have been hidden, smirks faintly. It’s a quick quirk of his lips, but his sisters catch it.

Kurosaki Isshin does not.

The next day, Uryuu will find a Thank-You card on his desk with five signatures, three of which are far more important than the others, and blush at the smirk from Kurosaki, and the smiles from Inoue and Sado.

Uryuu will keep that card as a reminder for years.)

            ~IiI~

But none of this distracts his mind from the fact – irrefutable – that Kurosaki Ichigo is losing, will lose, his powers.

That his first friend will be forcibly removed from the world that took so much from all of them. And, certainly, nothing _forced_ Kurosaki to go and invade Soul Society to rescue his Shinigami friend. Nothing had _forced_ Kurosaki to regain his powers that first time. Nothing had _forced_ Kurosaki to rescue Inoue.

Except, Kurosaki’s morals had gotten in the way. His righteousness, his heroics, had landed him in the unenviable position of hero, day-saver, and champion. All of these are just nicer titles for **scapegoat**.

And none of this would have been necessary if it hadn’t been for the damn Shinigami.

Aizen was one of _theirs_ , whose machinations _they’d_ failed to notice, who _they_ should have put down. Aizen is currently languishing in a deep pit (not one deep enough for Uryuu, but he also knows that at this point he’ll approve of exactly _nothing_ the Shinigami do), not dead, and with a release date.

Kuchiki Rukia was one of _theirs_ , who _they_ should have given a better trial, who shouldn’t have tried to circumvent the law if she _knew_ it would bring the Gotei 13 down upon Kurosaki. Kuchiki is alive, well, has avenged her vice-captain, and will move on with her life.

Inoue is one of Kurosaki’s friends, by extension one of Uryuu’s just because it’s hard to knock out Shinigami and steal their subpar clothes with a person and not become friends, and she would have been _left to rot_ by the Shinigami. It was _their_ Soutaichou who refused to listen to reason, to observe logic, and so forced the humans to invade another world (again) to rescue the Time Rejecter.

There are probably other examples (there are definitely other examples), but those cases do not directly affect Uryuu or his…friends.

And none of these makes the fact any less horrific.

Kurosaki will lose his power – a sacrifice meant to protect his friends and family from a larger, more current threat, and that sacrifice leaves him powerless in the long run and _Uryuu isn’t sure how to deal with this_.

It’s not like it’s something Uryuu can fix with a bit of thread, perhaps some glue, and precise, even stiches. It’s not something Uryuu can fix by becoming even more accurate in his archery, or by doing better on his tests. Or by giving Kurosaki a fruit basket – what would he even say?

So Uryuu tries to ignore it.

Forevermore, Kurosaki Ichigo will be the idiot who talked Uryuu into invading the Soul Society with two other humans and a cat (who might have actually been the former captain of the Onmitsukido…semantics. She was a cat at the time). Kurosaki is the one who allowed (forced) him to become something along the lines of civil acquaintances with the Shinigami that were the former’s friends. Kurosaki is the one whose Hollow stabbed him and then proceeded to obliterate a powerful Espada, only to stop the killing blow, and ask Inoue to _heal his opponent_ because it _wasn’t Kurosaki who had defeated him_.  Moron.

Kurosaki will always be a powerful, brawling idiot who picks fights with supernatural opponents that should be too strong for him to defeat until they aren’t and sometimes, maybe, making friends with those former opponents.

That is what Kurosaki is, and what he will remain to Uryuu.

~IiI~

One day Uryuu wakes up to find a message in his mailbox, hand delivered with no return address, typed and crisp and clean and smelling faintly of cigarette smoke.

It’s a list of psychologists and possibly therapists, who presumably are not going to a) go running for the hills, b) try and lock him up in an asylum, or c) medicate him if Uryuu starts going on about Shinigami and Hollows and wars in the spirit world.

The gesture is…touching, and Uryuu knows enough from the medical books he devoured as a child, and from more recent exploration, that he and the rest of the mostly humans are in dire need of some psychological help. But there’s still this ache in his chest, one that won’t subside – may never subside – that wants to discuss this with his father because…Ryuuken _is_ his father no matter how much Uryuu might want to deny it.

Uryuu sighs, stifling the urge to sob that comes from that aching place in the corner of his chest, and puts the note aside.

He is an adult now. Uryuu is an adult, and if the law says otherwise, it’s clearly not meant for teens that have gone to war and returned as veterans.   And Uryuu knows, he _knows_ (he’s done his research, too, knows the consequences of his and the other’s actions), but none of the _adults_ have ever steered him right.

And maybe, maybe there’s the chance that these people will help him and the others (especially Kurosaki) adjust. But that’s a maybe.

Uryuu isn’t going to trust any other adults with his or his friends’ minds when adults are the ones (not the same, but really, how different are they, in the end?) who screwed his friends and him up in the first place.

Still, he keeps the numbers and names. Contingency plans are always better to have than make up on the fly, no matter what Kurosaki seems to think.

~IiI~

Uryuu notices when Inoue and Sado abruptly cease speaking about the spirit worlds with Kurosaki.

More accurately, he notices how Inoue tells Sado about how Kurosaki Isshin had mentioned that it might make Kurosaki more comfortable if they’d stop talking about spirits, since he’d lost his powers.

Inoue, Uryuu is reminded, has never really _met_ Kurosaki Isshin. Or perhaps more accurately, she has never met him in the context of his son, because it is very, very clear that the two of them, together, have a relationship that’s probably worse than the one between Uryuu and Ryuuken. A fairly difficult feat to achieve, and Uryuu isn’t sure if Kurosaki Isshin is quite aware enough to realize just how bad that relationship is between his son and himself.

“Inoue-san,” Uryuu says. “When did you speak with Kurosaki-sensei?”

“Oh, I ran into him while I was heading back from getting groceries yesterday!”

“Really? Did he say why?”

“Why?”

“Why he was saying this – did Kurosaki ask him to say something?” Uryuu tries to keep a lid on his anger. He might see it as them against the world, but…perhaps Inoue sees it differently. Either way, she is not the person at whom he should get angry. Not really.

“No, he just said it and then asked what I was making for dinner. He turned a bit green when I told him daikon, anko, leek, and egg soup, then left.”

“So why do you think that Kurosaki would appreciate us ceasing to speak about the spirit world? He has friends there, and I’m certain he would appreciate knowing how they are doing. He also seems to appreciate knowing how many Hollows we encounter and how our fights go.” Even if it clearly hurts that he can’t join them, anymore.

“But Ishida-kun! Kurosaki-sensei is Kurosaki-kun’s father and he…used to be a… Shinigami…oh.”

Uryuu and Sado grimace, because really, none of them are stupid, least of all Inoue, but sometimes their own personal desires make them blind to reality.

“Yes. But I’m not sure he’s been a very good one.”

“He…isn’t,” Sado says.

“What?” Inoue is a little confused and a little worried.

“He tends to throw and kick Ichigo around, saying it’s training. He’s been doing it for…a very long time.”

“How long?”

“Since before I met Ichigo.”

“Damn,” Uryuu spits. But there’s not a whole lot he can do. He cannot give Kurosaki his powers back. He cannot shoot Kurosaki Isshin full of arrows. And he cannot try and get Kurosaki Isshin put away because that would hurt Kurosaki’s sisters and that would _never_ be acceptable to the other teen.

But, he might be able to get Kurosaki away.

That idea is put on hold, though, when Inoue and Sado, over the course of the next few weeks, cease speaking about the Spirit Worlds to Kurosaki with only vague reasons as to why they are doing so. That’s when Uryuu knows the Shinigami (likely a few very convincing Shinigami) are meddling again, and that he’s going to have to be very, very careful.

He’s already on their radar, which is going to make things even more difficult.

~IiI~

Resolutely, Uryuu also slowly decreases the amount of time he spends with Kurosaki. Admittedly, it’s not all contrived. Uryuu is certainly busy with his clubs and activities and the end of the year is nearly upon them, and then it’s the beginning of next year and nearly summer and Uryuu hasn’t talked to Kurosaki in months.

Uryuu knows his grandfather would be disappointed in him. But hacking, both learning and the process, has taken some work, and so has creating even the fledgling information network he’s been working upon.

(Actually, Kurosaki could probably have built a better one, if he could convince all the idiots to stop fighting him and somehow Uryuu can’t bring himself to be more than exasperated. Typical Kurosaki.)

Despite his packed schedule, both of the activities he’s actually involved in for school and eventually college, and the opportunities he’s trying to create for Kurosaki, Uryuu still notices when the air around Kurosaki changes. He’s still depressed, that’s clear (he’s been isolated, no doubt has at least _some_ trauma from fighting the spirits – realizing he’s fighting and essentially killing _people_ no matter how the Shinigami pretty up the concept with words like “purification”), but he seems to have started working through it somehow.

Uryuu hides his relief and turns away, resuming his work on a new costume for some play or another.

~IiI~

At the end of their second year in high school, there’s a box in Kurosaki Ichigo’s locker. It contains a new passport (which, considering he doesn’t know exactly where his current one is, is a relief), and other documents for identification. There are also a few maps, with certain areas marked in red, others in green. It also contains a copy of a certain list that appeared in Uryuu’s mailbox nearly a year ago – just in case Kurosaki ever wants professional help. The option is there.

Uryuu never sees the expression on Kurosaki’s face when he receives the culmination of a year’s hard work.

(And he wishes he could do more, could be better and could give his friend more options in this lonely, lonely world that’s been created at the whim of ancient souls, who have forgotten what it means to be human and have a life that does not pass at the pace of rocks, with erosion from weathered battles and not years.

Uryuu had wished and wished fervently as he typed and learned and learned and _learned_.  He wasn’t enough to help his grandfather. He’s not sure he’s enough to help his friend.

But damn the Shinigami to Hell (which _he has seen and they would deserve to rest in for eternity if they were stabbed with their own precious Zanpakutou_ ), he will at least _try_ to help his friend.

It’s the least he can do. It’s the least he owes him, as a friend.)

Uryuu does, however, see the cross-themed thank you note…attached to an out of season yuzu.

‘Oh,’ Uryuu thinks. He hadn’t realized the Shinigami had gone so far as to separate those two…and he’s not sure if he means Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Karin or Kurosaki Yuzu and her twin.

Yet another thing for which to hate those meddlers.

But a few months later, there’s another box in Kurosaki Ichigo’s locker, along with some permanent hair dye and a quote from the Bard. Certainly, Uryuu is no Brutus (nor Cassius), but the sentiment is there and he knows that Kurosaki has read enough Shakespeare to know what he means.

(Probably.)

Uryuu doesn’t see much of Kurosaki afterwards, not that they saw much of each other before it.

~IiI~

The day after graduation, Uryuu receives a card in the mail with no return address, presumably hand delivered.

“’Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried/Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel,’ hm?” Uryuu says to his empty apartment, before he chuckles softly. “Trying to channel your sword? That’s what it sounds like, Kurosaki. Although, for your sake, I hope he was less condescending than that hypocritical fool, Polonius.”

The card is placed in a book on his bedside table. It’s a fit of sentimentality that Uryuu hopes won’t end with him killed or imprisoned and an experiment (but then, he’s been expecting that for years after the fights against Aizen). Then Uryuu wanders back into his kitchen area to prepare for the inevitable interrogation.

* * *

As always, comments are appreciated!

You can also find me on tumblr: [fins-illusion.tumblr.com](fins-illusion.tumblr.com) to check and make sure I'm still around when my muse isn't going crazy.  I'll be on there more often now that I got over whatever bug I had earlier this week.

 


	2. Orihime's Mix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orihime is a healer. But there's something to be said for strategy, for planning, for manipulation, and the stubbornness to prevent the catastrophe her boys and she were involved in from happening ever again.
> 
> They will heal. She'll make sure of it (or she'll at least give them a chance).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm still not sure if I got Orihime's personality right, but oh well. I should also actually be studying for a quiz, but who needs grammar in Japanese, anyways?
> 
> Anyways, here's another chapter of It's Been Good. Up next is Chad's arc! Which will be posted...when I get it done, to my beta, and redo bits that need to be changed.
> 
> Beta'd by the wonderful bookworm83197! Any remain mistakes are my own.
> 
> Disclaimer: in the first chapter, still don't own anything but the general plot and anthropomorphic!Karakura.
> 
> Also, as I said in the first chapter, this fic was inspired by cywscross's Wanderlust. I'm continually thankful to her for allowing me to use her concept of Ichigo wandering.
> 
> Updated 8/21/16: Minor typos

* * *

The battle is over. Karakura is not completely destroyed (though there are a number of buildings in need of repair and an explanation for their sudden destructive alterations, and in some cases, complete annihilation), and Orihime blends easily with the new shadows the rubble creates. She slips around the battle debris, barely avoiding twisting an ankle on one of the dozens of new holes in the concrete, eventually making it to the Kurosaki Clinic. Clutching the bracelet Ulquiorra had given her and which she had never returned, Orihime jumps lightly up to Kurosaki-kun’s window.

She has a debt to repay.

(She’s always healed him – when she’s been capable of it and permitted to, by time and circumstance, that is. It’s not _right_. None of it is _right_ and if she has the powers of a god, like Aizen had said, then she should be capable of turning back the clock so that _this wrong_ is made _right_.

What else is she supposed to do with godly powers, anyways?)

Besides, she was going to get kidnapped anyways. Kurosaki-kun really doesn’t have a good track record with girls from the Spirit World. Even if Rukia didn’t exactly get tossed over her brother’s shoulder or pulled into a van, like in the books or the news, but she clearly was happy at school, so she _couldn’t_ have been happy to return to the Seireitei. Orihime certainly hadn’t _wanted_ to go with Ulquiorra –hadn’t _wanted_ to be the damsel in distress – but at least she got to heal Kurosaki-kun first. (Even then, it doesn’t fully repay him for all the opportunities he’s given her. She was able to speak to her brother, one last time (because the memory device looses it’s effectiveness over the years, and while others would allow the event to fade into fuzzy memories, Orihime saw her brother one last time. Without outside forces, she’s never going to forget it again). Orihime is able to heal people, to shield people, and, even if she doesn’t always like it, she has the ability to destroy, too. Her Shun Shun Rikka are a representation of her, a reflection of her, and she can’t imagine returning to the lonely life she led before she met them.

Orihime also wanted to try and spare her friends from having to worry about her. She wanted to take the initiative, and she’s since realized that she will never be the offensive powerhouse that Kurosaki-kun is, nor Sado-kun, or even Ishida-kun. But she’s also come to realize that a shield is just as necessary as a sword, and that frontliners are hurt the worst. She can adapt as needed, in terms of offensive power, but for right now, one of her specialties is needed – and she has a debt to repay.

So she creeps up to Kurosaki-kun’s bed, and notices that unlike the last time, he’s clearly having nightmares. Getting attacked, receiving (fairly, usually grievous) bodily harm, and he’s fine, but…well, losing a purpose is worse. She knows.

Orihime carefully avoids the memories of her life immediately after her brother died; instead focusing on summoning her two most often used faeries.

“Souten Kisshun! I REJECT!”

Because she does – she rejects this whole situation with the entirety of her being. It’s not meant to be an offense to Kurosaki-kun, nor is it meant to cheapen his sacrifice. But there must have been a better way – should have been a better way than forcing a 16 year old to take on, then take _out_ , the villain of a society that aged in decades, not years, whose people lived centuries.

There might be something to be said about having a larger perspective, of the Three Worlds as a whole, but there’s also something called _using people as pawns_.

When the spiritual pressure flowing off Kurosaki-kun doesn’t stop draining like water from a sieve, Orihime can’t help but hate the Shinigami, as a whole, even as she tries again.

“Souten Kisshun: I _REJECT_!”

Oh, she loves Rukia-chan, and Rangiku-chan and Toshiro-kun, but she understands how Ishida-kun could hate them all, as a group, so much that first time they entered Soul Society. Friends are family of the heart, and bound by choice; that _they_ cannot seem to spare the time to come by, even as they rush by in patrols, indicates that whatever bond Kurosaki-kun had initiated was not reciprocated. (She can’t imagine losing them all, including Tatsuki-chan, and only having memories to hold as proof of their existence.)

At that moment, Orihime isn’t sure she wouldn’t be fighting Ishida-kun over getting first dibs on kicking the collective asses of the Shinigami – even if she only has Tsubaki as her offense, she’s quite sure she can be persuaded to use her imagination more…creatively (there is the potential to use her shield to take out a whole bunch of them in one attack – spread her fairies out to the edges and then activate her shield…). But, attacking head-on is much more to Tatsuki-chan or Kurosaki-kun’s strengths.

No one quite seems to appreciate this, though.

(Orihime doesn’t deal with Chizuru, though she certainly could; she knows Tatsuki-chan enjoys the arguments, enjoys standing up for herself, and honestly Orihime doesn’t really mind.)

She tries again.

And _again._

Maybe this time.

Maybe _thi_ s time.

This time _it will work_.

But the sun is rising and she can’t tell where the orange glow comes from – her flickering shield or the rising sun – because her eyes are full of tears she won’t shed. If she cries, it means she’s failed. It she cries, it means she’s given up. If she cries, it means that Kurosaki-kun really did lose his powers and this isn’t a nightmare.

She leaves before Kurosaki-kun can wake up, slipping out through the window and slowly making her way back to her apartment.

~IiI~

She comes back the next night and tries again. The next night, too.

~IiI~

Almost nothing good has ever come of Orihime going to Urahara-san’s shop. Somehow, she doesn’t think that this trip is going to be the exception to the already established pattern.

But, Orihime owes Tatsuki-chan an explanation. Asano-san and Kojima-san, too. She was, after all, part of the reason they got involved in the insanity of the Spirit World. (This doesn’t mean she’s letting Tatsuki-chan off the hook for punching Kurosaki-kun through a window, _honestly_ , that’s no way to get him to talk! What does Tatsuki-chan think they’ve been doing in their spare time? Physical violence never quite gets you what you want, even if it gets Kurosaki-kun close, most of the time. He’s the exception that proves the rule.)

“Ah, Inoue-chan! Nice to see you again!”

“Good morning, Urahara-san.” It is habit that leads her to ask, “How are you?”

The fan is whipped out. “Better now that you’ve graced me with your stunning presence, Inoue-chan!”

Orihime nods slightly, but waits.

Urahara-san sees that she’s serious. The fan is withdrawn from his face, slid back up into his sleeve, and his face looses the smile and closed eyes.

“I have been better, Inoue-chan. But I have also been worse. I and those I care about are alive and that is what matters.”

Orihime inclines her head in assent.

“Now, please, come in. We’re waiting on Kurosaki-kun to bring the others.”

Orihime tries to resist the urge to flinch, turning the motion into a nod, and follows the shopkeeper (inventor, scientist, manipulator, puppet master, teacher) through the door.

(His shop has mysteriously remained perfectly intact.)

~IiI~

“Okay,” Tatsuki-chan says, “so let me get this straight. Ichigo has super awesome spiritual powers, which accidently caused Chad and Orihime’s powers to manifest. Ishida has always had his own powers and is something called a Quincy. Ichigo is technically some weird mix of things. Shinigami are real. The transfer student who disappeared one day and then came back just as randomly with a bunch of weird friends is a Shinigami. So are her friends. As is the shopkeeper in a bucket hat, the guy who brought tea, and the _cat_.”

Here, Tatsuki shoots Yoruichi-san a dubious look, but moves on. It’s not the weirdest thing she’s ever heard, Orihime knows.

“The transfer student, when she disappeared, was actually kidnapped by her brother and was supposed to be executed, so Ichigo’s sense of responsibility and hero-complex kicked in, causing him to decide to run off and invaded this place with” Tatsuki takes the moment to count people off on her fingers, “Orihime, Sado, Ishida, and the cat.”

“Can we ignore how stupid that was? _They were going to execute Rukia_!”

Tatsuki-chan turns to Kurosaki-kun and growls, “You. Could. Have. Died.”

Orihime decides not to mention Kurosaki-kun’s fight with Kuchiki-taichou. Or Kenpachi-taichou. Or the first run-in with Aizen. Or Nnoitra. Or Ulquiorra.

Or the fact that Kurosaki-kun essentially _did_ die at least a few times.

“You could have _died_ and _I would never have known_.”

That Orihime can understand (how many times did she wonder, in that little black corner of her mind, if Kurosaki-kun was still alive in the Soul Society? In Hueco Mundo? On all those adventures he ran off on and left the rest of them behind?).

From Asano-san and Kojima-san’s faces, they agree with Tatsuki-chan.

“Tatsuki-chan….”

“And Orihime, I know, _I know_ , you can take care of yourself. But…you couldn’t have told me _anything_?”

Orihime has to fight herself to keep Tatsuki-chan’s gaze. Because she had thought about telling Tatsuki-chan and then decided that she wouldn’t do that to her friend. When she might have told her, Orihime was too busy training and then suddenly all of her time had run out. Her one regret was not telling Tatsuki-chan about where she was going and what she was doing. But then she reached the Soul Society and couldn’t help but be thankful that Tatsuki-chan had no idea what awaited them after their mortal deaths. She was projecting, she knew, and that was no excuse, but she can’t help but remember how she thought ignorance was bliss and how her and her boys’ halcyon days were well and truly over.

How could she steal that from her friend – her best friend and confidant?

How could she keep those secret from her friend, who had stood beside her when no one else did?

How could she not trust her friend to understand?

Orihime breaks away from Tatsuki-chan’s gaze. She had been foolish, and fallen into the first trap of protectors – keeping the person you want to protect too ignorant.

“I’m sorry, Tatsuki-chan.”

But Orihime cannot say that she regrets her choice.

(Aizen taking Tatsuki-chan? Orihime would have beaten Kurosaki-kun to Heuco Mundo and taken a modified flame-throwing tank to storm the white fortress before that would have happened. Everyone has a line that should not be crossed. Others have learned the hard way that Tatsuki is Orihime’s.)

Tatsuki-chan stares hard at her, and then sighs.

“Well, you told me eventually, I guess that’s what counts. And we’re all still alive despite that weirdo you decided to give a face-lift, Ichigo.”

“Yeah, what was with that guy anyways?” Asano-san asks.

“Well…” Kurosaki-kun starts, before glancing over at Urahara-san.

“Oh god, am I going to want to kill you by the end of this story?” Tatsuki-chan groans.

“It’s not my fault if you want to try and kill Getaboshi. He’s probably brought it on himself, although he’s pretty hard to kill, and he’s occasionally pretty awesome to spar against,” Kurosaki-kun says flippantly.

Tatsuki-chan glowers. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ then.”

Urahara-san pulls out his fan in an attempt to hide, but eventually recounts a summary of what had occurred, and his part in it…until the is story passed back to Kurosaki-kun, and then Ishida-kun, and so on.

~IiI~

Yoruichi-san laughs as Tatsuki-chan nearly strangles Kurosaki-kun and Orihime herself in a hug, while glaring murder at Urahara-san.

Some sliver of Orihime’s heart can’t help but be pleased to know she has her best friend on her side.

Urahara-san is not a bad man, but he is, occasionally, misguided, and prone to the mistakes that all humans make, be they Shinigami, Vizard, or Arrancar. It’s good for him to face the fact that people are not pawns.

(In her heart, Orihime swears to never forget that lesson.)

~IiI~

They return to school. Scarred, empty, twitching at moves that, in a different setting, would have resulted in death – usually their own.

And then they drift apart.

Well, they do, and they don’t. It’s hard to fight beside, for, or heal someone and not have a bond that endures. But high school, the mundane, has a way of wearing things away. It doesn’t help that they’re all ignoring the proverbial elephant by refraining from even thinking (or maybe that’s just Orihime) about Kurosaki-kun’s impending loss of power.

(It’s already occurred. She went to try again last night, but apparently time doesn’t register sacrifice as a wound, and she can’t make it do so in order to heal it.)

So they drift.

~IiI~

Orihime realizes it’s been three weeks since she actually said anything of substance to Kurosaki-kun. It’s something she intends to rectify immediately, as she heads back from the store with ingredients to make apology cookies from a recipe that Tatsuki-chan had printed out for her when she runs – almost literally – into Kurosaki Isshin.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she says, flustered. “I should have been watching where I was going!”

He waves her apology aside. “Ah, aren’t you Inoue-chan? You’re friends with my son, aren’t you?”

Orihime nods. “Yes, I am.”

The doctor’s eyes seem to darken slightly, before he continues overly enthusiastically, “So how are you doing? We haven’t seen you around, lately! My daughters could always use another female role model!”

Orihime is a little taken aback. She had never really _met_ Kurosaki Isshin – all she recalls from her visit to Kurosaki-kun’s house is cheerful shouting at a poster on the wall.

“I am doing well,” she says, “and keeping busy. I’ve begun thinking about where I would like to attend college, and begun looking into what I would need to do to get into Tokyo University.”

“Impressive, Inoue-chan! Toudai is hard to get into, but I’m sure that you’re smart enough to get in!”

“Thank you,” she blushes slightly. “It’s been my dream school, since I was a child.”

“I see. It’s nice that you get to follow your dreams.” Kurosaki-sensei says, and then he sighs and stares up at the sky. “I wish my idiot son would hurry up and decide on his dreams. He can’t stay in the spirit world forever….”

Orihime freezes.

“Ah, well. Maybe if he stops hearing about it all the time he’ll accept things as they are and move on with his life…Well, have a good evening, Inoue-chan. I hope you have a wonderful dinner, and I wish you the best of luck on getting into Toudai.” And with that, Kurosaki Isshin starts to wander away.

Automatically, Orihime replies, “Thank you, Kurosaki-sensei. I’m looking forward to daikon, anko, leek, and egg soup tonight.”

That causes the man to pause and then quicken his pace, but it’s a hollow victory.

Is she even supposed to feel joy at the greening complexion of her friend’s father?

It’s a concerning thought, as her feet remain frozen and her plastic grocery bags dig into her fingers, but it’s a distant pain. She knows that conversation was staged. She heard the blatant attempt at manipulation – she’d have to be deaf to not have – but that knowledge doesn’t quiet the voice in her head that murmurs, “Stop reminding Kurosaki-kun, he’s lost enough. How does he feel, every time Sado-kun, Ishida-kun, and you run out of class to deal with Hollows? How does he feel, knowing that he’s the reason Sado-kun and you have access to those powers?”

She shakes her head, but the voice remains, and the apology cookies instead turn into comfort cookies.

~IiI~

Orihime avoids the topic for a few more weeks. Sado-kun seems to follow her lead. Ishida-kun doesn’t…and she finds out why.

“Inoue-san,” Ishida-kun says. “When did you speak with Kurosaki-sensei?”

“Oh, I ran into him while I was heading back from getting groceries yesterday!”

“Really? Did he say why?”

“Why?”

“Why he was saying this – did Kurosaki ask him to say something?” Ishida-kun seems to be getting angry, and Orihime doesn’t know why. Isn’t Kurosaki-sensei Kurosaki-kun’s father? Shouldn’t he know that how his son thinks and reacts?

“No,” she replies, confusion growing, “he just said it and then asked what I was making for dinner. He turned a bit green when I told him daikon, anko, leek, and egg soup, then left.”

“So why do you think that Kurosaki would appreciate us ceasing to speak about the spirit world? He has friends there, and I’m certain he would appreciate knowing how they are doing. He also seems to appreciate knowing how many Hollows we encounter and how our fights go.”

“But Ishida-kun! Kurosaki-sensei is Kurosaki-kun’s father and he used to be a Shinigami…oh.”

Ishida-kun and Sado-kun exchange a grimace, and Orihime realizes that she should have paid more attention to her knowledge of manipulation – should have trusted Kurosaki-kun, whom she’s followed, and not the man she’d only ever met in passing and that little voice that expresses all of her doubts.

“Yes. But I’m not sure he’s been a very good one,” Ishida-kun opines, but then, has Ishida-kun ever met a good Shinigami? Kurosaki-kun doesn’t count among those dead beings who sacrificed him for their own ends.

“He…isn’t,” Sado-kun says.

“What?” Inoue is a little confused and a little worried. If she wasn’t being obtuse and thinking that Ishida-kun meant that Kurosaki-sensei was a bad Shinigami….

“He tends to throw and kick Ichigo around, saying it’s training. He’s been doing it for…a very long time.”

No.

“How long?”

“Before I met Ichigo.”

“Damn,” Ishida-kun snarls.

Orihime can’t help but agree. She’s peripherally acquainted with parents who don’t deserve the honor of such a title, but she does know how hard it is to break away from them.

She remembers the phone calls that Sora-nii-san had to deal with, vividly.

But she’s older now, and has a chance to plan. Orihime knows that she can come up with something to help.

~IiI~

The first step is to reverse engineer her bracelet…or at least recreate it, and she can’t go – refuses to go – to the one person who would actually be able to tell her the first thing about how to reverse engineer a spiritual device.

She won’t take more chances than she has to, not with this.

So Orihime goes to the nearest crafts store and buys silver chains in a wide variety of sizes.

“Oh, it’s for a project! I want to make my friends something for graduation, since we’ll probably be in different cities, but I don’t want them to forget me,” she tells the woman next to her in the aisle.

“That’s sweet of you. But aren’t these a little big for girls….?”

Orihime laughs. “Yes, but…I have some friends who are guys—not boyfriends!—who I’d like to give a gift as well. Boys always seem to forget to keep in contact, you know, so I thought that a bracelet, if it was manly enough, would be a good reminder for them!”

The lady laughs. “Oh, I think they’ll love it, even if they won’t say it. And perhaps I should send my nephew something like that – maybe he’ll bother to write or call more often then around New Year’s.”

They chuckle, and soon part ways.

Orihime wasn’t lying; she doesn’t want her friends to forget her. But she doubts that they could ever forget her or each other, short of some weird Hollow of slime taking them over, or severe brain trauma.

She’d rather the world forgot about them instead.

~IiI~

It takes many, many, many sleepless nights before Orihime thinks to scratch a simple flower on a link and reject the time on spirit energy (that way, she reasons, the spirit energy, the spiritual signature of a person will be frozen…and if she can link it to another piece, it will be frozen around the anchor, not the body. It’s worth the risk, and she can redo it, improve on it, at any time)…it’s an accident, but it works, and she’s so stunned by this breakthrough she forgets to cheer.

~IiI~

It’s nearly senior year before Orihime has everything all lined up.

She found out, a year and half ago, that Ishida-kun was trying to do something similar – to get Kurosaki-kun out from the town and away from all the memories, and his family (his father) that were stifling him until he was ready to wilt.

(But something happened, and he’s smiling again. There’s life in his eyes and Orihime wants to thank all the deities responsible for allowing that light to return, when nothing in her power had ever accomplished it.)

Ishida-kun has been very helpful, lining up everything for Kurosaki-kun and later Yuzu-chan, but he forgot about himself. Forgot about the rest of them. Orihime isn’t hurt – she knows that Ishida would give himself up to the Shinigami just to allow Kurosaki-kun and Yuzu-chan to wander free, but she refuses to sacrifice Ishida-kun, Sado-kun, or herself. They’ve done that enough.

Orihime has nothing against Karakura Town. She cherishes the memories of the happy times she spent with her brother, meeting Tatsuki-chan, meeting Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun and Sado-kun. She even holds the memories of Rukia-chan, Rangiku-chan, and Toshiro-kun close to her heart, but those memories are tarnished.

(She remembers hearing about the accident that caused her brother’s death. She remembers her horror at seeing the Hollow Sora-nii-san had become, and how it pained him to remain the person she remembered, when he stabbed himself on Kurosaki-kun’s Zanpakutou. Orihime remembers all the memories she wishes she never had, and that they, too, are connected to this town.)

Her plans are bigger than Ishida-kun’s, but then, she’s always been a dreamer.

~IiI~

The thing is, it’s hard to be a girl, a woman, who isn’t intimidating like Unohana-taichou, or capable of manipulating men with a twitch of her hair, like Rangiku-chan. Besides, Orihime knows that Sado-kun will be just as happy to get out of Karakura as she is – especially if they’re all leaving, and leaving nothing (no one) behind.

The smile she receives after she details her plans is worth the risk of being overheard.

(She won’t make the same mistake twice – the Shinigami won’t be leashing any of her friends, her family. Faeries, gods – they were meant to be free, and while faeries are known for keeping their word and their rules, well, it’s not their fault that others aren’t as ambitious in their interpretation and their flexibility. Her Shun Shun Rikka giggle in the back of her mind.)

~IiI~

Two days after graduation, Orihime knocks on Sado-kun’s apartment door.

“Sado-kun! Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Orihime beams at the taller teen. “Great!”

There’s just one more stop to make before they can have their own freedom.

~IiI~

Perhaps Orihime should have let Ishida-kun in on her plans, as the first thing she sees upon knocking is an arrow rushing towards her, quickly released from Ishida-kun’s bow.

“Ishida-kun! Stop, please! STOP! We don’t have time for this!”

“Inoue-chan? Sado-san?”

Orihime bustles in, and thrusts a duffle bag she bought months ago into Ishida’s non-occupied hand.

“Fill this with clothes. Then meet us at the train station – but put this on, just before you leave.”

She lets a cool silver chain flow into his other hand, since he had released his bow upon receiving the duffle bag.

“What? What are you doing?”

She shakes her head. This is the most delicate portion of her plan, and there’s really no time for discussion or debate.

Instead, Orihime looks at Ishida-kun. “Please, Ishida-kun. Trust me on this.”

Slowly, he nods (as if she gave him a choice).

“I will be there in forty five minutes,” he says, and adjusts his glasses.

He will be there in thirty or less.

She nods, and leaves with Sado-kun, who is already wearing his suppressor as another necklace, slightly longer than the one that holds the coin and the promise to his Abuelo…and to Kurosaki-kun.

They will be fine.

They will be fine.

They will be fine.

Orihime rejects any other outcome.

* * *

As always, feel free to bug me at my tumblr.  I'm [fins-illusion.tumblr.com](http://fins-illusion.tumblr.com), and though I've been pretty bad at being on lately (part time job, college, and now I'm in Japan for another four weeks trying to actually improve my speaking skills), I'm always up for people dropping me a line :)

Please leave a review.

~Fini~

 


	3. Chad's Mix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chad doesn't appreciate being left behind, but now that he's the one ahead (or at least the one with powers), he has plans to make and facilitate to ensure that Ichigo doesn't get left behind. Neither will Orihime, Ishida, or Yuzu get left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one...took awhile. I'm not super happy with how Chad's voice came out, because I feel that I have even less of a hold on his voice than Orihime's, but such is life, and I figured it'd be nice to end the year on a good note :)
> 
> Also, all I know about Mazatlán, Sinaloa pertains to Banda music...for a class I took. But it's a port city, and that seems to fit from what I remember of Chad's backstory (which I also took a few liberties with, oh well), so yeah. Please, let me know if you think there would be a better city to place Chad's childhood in, or if I got anything glaringly wrong.
> 
> Thanks again to bookworm83197, who has been such an amazing beta for this entire work. I can't wait to see what happens in the Shinigami's arc!
> 
> And, last but not least, thank you to everyone who's read this fic, and the others in the series. It's been amazing to see your responses and your patience has been awe inspiring (because I know I'm not the fastest updater, and all my fics are, for the most part, WIPs). Thank you for taking the time to read this, give a kudos, and comment. I hope you all have a wonderful, safe holiday season!

* * *

Yatsutora is used to being alone.

(Chad ~~is~~ was not.)

He’s not used to being lost, either. Though it’s a feeling he became accustomed to, running through the streets in Mazatlán, Sinaloa because his Abuelo was old and busy, and Yatsutora had done something silly to try and get a few more pesos, or keep himself entertained. The older kids – they had a purpose and a job and they needed people to help with it and he could help meet rent for the month, maybe.

The docks are always filled with things to do.

But his mother was gone and his father gone in a different way and Yatsutora had to stop getting into fights because his Abuelo always seemed so sad when that happened. He knows, now, that Abuelo didn’t want him to go down the path the older kids went – broken and hurt by pride and a long fall from grace because the younger kids didn’t have the ability to hide in the mountains until things smoothed over. You can hide at the docks, but there are too many people and you can’t trust them all.

(You can’t trust most of them, Yatsutora found out.)

It’s like his Abuelo dying all over again because Chad wasn’t there to have Ichigo’s back when he needed him there.

There’s nothing Chad could have done, except maybe get killed, because Aizen was far more powerful than the average Shinigami captain (and that first battle against one went so well for Chad – he knows that even now he wouldn’t be able to defeat the curly-haired captain who sat down and asked him about Ichigo, once Chad had been defeated, and offered him a drink of sake). Chad may have trained, and trained, and trained – with Urahara, against Abarai, under Yoruichi, but he’s not Ichigo, can’t increase his power and abilities with every single battle fought, and so he’s left behind with Ishida.

There’s something like resentment in Chad’s chest. It lies, a lead dragon with heart of cinders, curled into a marble that rattles and clanks next to the jar of his guilt at not having Ichigo’s back – at not having Ichigo’s back for the entire time they’ve been involved with the spirit world.

It was wonderful, those few hours when they’d first infiltrated Los Noches and Chad could prove that he has not been slacking, could keep pace – maybe a little slower than back when they were fighting humans under bridges and in alleyways, but still present.  Still a support.

~IiI~

Chad spends the days following Aizen’s defeat building shelters and clearing rubble, working overtime at his job because it needs to be done. 

No one quite knows what to make of the destruction of Karakura Town, but they pull together and reconstruction is started quickly, even as chunks of concrete litter the streets, iron supports twisting up to the sky like a steampunk parody of an uprooted tree. This kind of destruction shouldn’t look natural in the quiet town he’s lived in for the last four years.

These people were almost slaughtered for a madman’s dream and they go to bed each night ignorant of how close they were to dying. Chad’s friend is lying in a bed, in pain as his soul is slowly rent to pieces – or fully separated and locked away?  Urahara’s explanation of how one can give up their powers in such a painful way was unclear, and Kurosaki Isshin, who is apparently a Shinigami, is no help whatsoever.  Another friend is futilely trying to ease the first friend’s injury, the final friend is retreating into his own head, and there’s a protocol for how the clean-up is supposed to go. 

Shinigami have been doing this for years, after all.

They’ve pulled out a larger version of the memory modifier Ichigo had told Chad about, although the town-wide version doesn’t look like a Pez dispenser, but more like a gigantic space anemone. (He’s not sure that that sight is any better than a Pez dispenser the size of Jidanbo.  Maybe the actual version is simply more disturbing, because it reminds him of the Espada he and Ishida had fought. At least it isn’t pink.)

Regardless, it’s good to have something to focus upon that isn’t Ichigo, isn’t related to spirits or fights or war. There’s nothing to suggest that a week previously, Chad had been fighting for his life against an Espada that could make actual voodoo dolls and nearly crushed every organ of his like some people like to eat the _ikura_ – the fish roe that tops some sushi or is inside some onigiri at the convenience store.

(Chad isn’t sure he’ll be able to eat that ever again, given how that battle went, but it’s a small price to pay, for getting out alive.)

Chad works, and works, and works, like he trained, and trained, and trained, and when he closes his eyes he can still see the bright white walls inside of Las Noches, he can still see the grey sands of Hueco Mundo, and sometimes he thinks he failed to destroy one of the lower level Hollows they ran into initially and he’s watching Ichigo or Ishida or even Inoue die because of his confidence, his arrogance, to think that he was ready for something of this scale.

He doesn’t sleep much.

~IiI~

Orihime, he knows, goes to see Ichigo every night after that final disaster, when they were told just what Ichigo sacrificed to remove the Hyōgoku from Aizen and defeat the madman.

Chad goes every day, too, though he has nothing to offer but his presence.

They don’t talk.

Ichigo is too far inside his own head, his own soul, trying to chase down his powers and their personifications, to speak with Chad. It’s fine. Chad doesn’t really need to speak all that much with Ichigo, anyways. Not now.

The resentment is still there, but it’s shrunk with the knowledge that Ichigo can’t go haring off again and leaving Chad behind as he has done in the past (now, that’s something _Chad_ can do, and it’s not a comfortable feeling because he knows that he will _have to_ – the Shinigami won’t step up their protection of Karakura Town, now that Aizen has been defeated. In part because it’s likely they no longer have that kind of man power, but also because they don’t seem to care about humans beyond ensuring that the balance of souls is maintained – Chad wouldn’t be surprised if some don’t have specific duties more closely tied with the tradition stories of death gods and soul reaping).  In contrast, his guilt has grown because Chad _knows_ that Ichigo hasn’t, with the exception of leaving to go and rescue Inoue, purposely tried to leave him behind.

But the coin his Abuelo gave to him rests heavy around his neck, the promise still echoes in his ears. He has a person to fight for, to protect, and Ichigo won’t let him. They’re no longer on the same level, and somewhere along the way, Ichigo has become as self-sacrificing idiot.

(Which isn’t fair – he’s always been one to dive in, head first, but he’d at least given some thought to it. What happened when they invaded Soul Society, or when he was dealing with his Hollow that caused him to think he wasn’t worth Chad’s friendship, Chad doesn’t know, but he wants to beat its – or their – head(s) in (as Chad doubts it was all Aizen’s fault) and knock some sense into Ichigo as well.

If he didn’t know Ichigo, Chad might suggest that losing his powers would cause Ichigo’s recently strengthened self-sacrificial streak to fade some, but he knows better. It’ll doubtlessly be reinforced, instead. At this point, there’s not much difference between a hero- and a martyr-complex.)

So they sit there in silence, and Chad leaves after an hour, goes back to his apartment (mostly unharmed by the destruction, surprisingly), eats, and spends as little time sleeping as he can get away with before heading back out to work on clearing away the rubble.

It’s a routine. It’s just enough to prevent Chad from completely breaking down.

~IiI~

School starts again. Chad makes sure to sit near Ichigo, when possible, and ignores the whispers and the side glances that come their way.

The Shinigami have performed their massive mind-wipe, but it doesn’t work well on those with even a hint of Reiatsu in their soul. Naturally, as this class has been exposed to Ichigo the most, after he’d received Rukia’s powers and then had access to his own, the majority have at least a vague idea of how something supernatural occurred, and who was right in the middle of it. If not, they’ve noticed how the four sit in a close group and block everyone else out.

(They’re hurting, wounded animals, and sometimes one dies with a bang, and sometimes one dies with barely a whimper, and Ichigo is the leader and he is hurting, so they close ranks, and Chad acts as a deterrent, a glowering gargoyle protecting his flock.)

Even the people who forgot about Chad after the first day of school take notice now.

One does not cross a Giant, nor a Devil, lightly.

(They quiver under his glares, and his power hums in delight.)

~IiI~

Arisawa, and Keigo, and Kojima receive an explanation at the Urahara Shouten.  Ichigo, Ishida, and Urahara tell them what the they’ve missed, and there’s bickering and squabbling, and something in Chad’s chest eases. Maybe not all is lost, if everyone can still laugh and bicker and blush in embarrassment over some stupid (life threatening, especially in Ichigo’s case) stunts.

As a whole, they’re far more broken than when they left, but they’re better together than apart. It’s…nice, to be a part of a whole that’s more than the sum of its parts.

So he sits back, and lets the voices wash over him, inserting a comment here or there in support of what someone else had said, or fleshing out the story with a quick summary of his own experiences. If they can still meet like this, laugh like this, perhaps it will all work out.

~IiI~

Chad, with longer legs, always ends up in the lead when they rush from class, chasing Hollows.

“I need to use the bathroom.” It’s a flying type, something that wouldn’t be out of place in Jurassic Park, cero escaping its mouth like pulsing sonic waves. The Hollow goes down with a final punch driving an arrow through its skull.

They don’t question how a Adjuchas came through and a Shinigami wasn’t immediately on the scene.

“I’m heading to the nurse; I have a migraine.” A lower level Hollow that can somehow make whatever it scratches explode.

Inoue is the one to destroy it, Ishida offering cover for Chad, still recovering under Inoue’s healing shield. They discover it takes longer when she uses two aspects of her power at the same time.

Given the glint in her eyes, it’s something she’ll be working on.

Chad thinks he can hear her faeries giggle. It’s not something he wants to dwell upon. It’s not a training session he wants a part of.

“I’ll be back in five minutes.” It’s a swarm and they keep track of how many each of them purify – or annihilate, in Ishida’s case.

(Not that they know – the one’s Chad destroys are always sent to Hell. After all, it is the dominion of the Devil, who’s right arm he wields.)

Ishida wins.

(“Ishida-kun, you are a long ranged fighter. That doesn’t make things even!”

“Hm. I can use my arm as more of a cannon, but it is meant to be used in close combat.” 

“But I still got the most.”

A glare and a passive stare.

“Ugh, fine. Each can count as 75% of one defeated in close combat.”)

“I need to go to the bathroom.” Another Hollow, another swarm, no Menos, but that’s a small blessing because Chad knows that Ichigo is dying by inches in the classroom, taking notes for them. Or, for Chad and Ishida, because Arisawa takes notes for Inoue, but then Kojima is taking notes, and Keigo, too, and Ichigo continues to fade from their circle.

Chad doesn’t like it.

But he has work - he wants to leave this place and he can’t do it without money.

He wants to leave, but he wants to leave with Ichigo, Ishida, Inoue. He doesn’t know if they want to leave, too, but each has lost someone important to them in this town, and with memories of the war?

No, they’re leaving, even if Chad has to pack them up himself.

~IiI~

He wasn’t always a background fixture – it’s hard to hide when your name marks you as foreign, even if your skin doesn’t, because it makes you a target – but he’s since learned to fade from people’s minds. It’s easier to watch Ichigo’s back (and now Ishida’s and Orihime’s) that way.

(He may also have asked Yoruichi-san for a few lessons on the sly, when he was training with Abarai, since she was once the captain of the Onmitsukidou Squad. Chad has no interest in becoming an assassin, but he has every intention of being able to protect his friends from any threats that would come their way, so he runs through the drills Yoruichi-san gives him between sparring with Abarai for hours in an effort to keep up with Ichigo. When Chad gets good enough, he incorporated the drills into the spars themselves, because what good are drills if he can’t use the skills in a practical setting?

Given how Yoruichi-san slinks over and twines herself between his feet, Chad assumes he’s done the right thing. 

It’s heartening.

(Maybe he’ll be able to stand by Ichigo’s side once more, as a fellow protector, and not one of the protected, despite how well he did against that one Shinigami captain. Maybe he’ll be able to stand back-to-back with his friend, once again, and not have his place claimed by the red haired Shinigami he’s attempting to slam into the sand.))

~IiI~

(He fails.) 

(Ichigo is still forced to fight alone, with no one at his back.)

~IiI~

In the night, Chad hears a howl, a shriek, a scream, and great ululation rising from somewhere beneath his feet in his dreams, but Chad rolls over, assured that it is not a Hollow – there is loss, yes, there are tinges of insanity, but there’s a lack of hunger that soothes his instincts, allows him to remain asleep, even if there’s a flash of worry.

But there’s a thrum of contentment, afterwards, and the frown on his face smooths out.

He will see Ichigo after school, they’ll walk, talk about meaningless things like school, or music, or books, or traipse about in silence, part, and repeat.

~IiI~

Chad reads on different locations. He has a bit of an advantage – he already knows Spanish, and it’s one of the most common languages in the world.  It’s also a Romance Language, so if he decides to learn French or Italian or something, it should be easier to do so.

He works in a bar – well, he plays music in a bar that gets, if not a steady stream of foreigners, enough that he can find conversation partners easily enough. Sometimes he sings in English, and even if he’s not always certain what about he’s singing, he gets better and better at pronouncing the words.

It’s progress.

It’s a year until graduation and Chad is no closer to figuring out how to save Ichigo and the others than he was before. Ishida and Inoue would kill him if he up and tried to take them with him.

Ichigo might just follow for lack of anything else to do. (Or he’ll fight and die in the process, smile on his face, because he’s not living, not now and that’s one of Chad’s reoccurring nightmares.)

But that’s not Chad’s speed.

He’d also have to take the twins, and while Yuzu would probably go along – she’s clearly been worried about her brother the entire time – Karin would dig her feet in, and Chad…Chad won’t hurt her. Ichigo would kill him, and that’s just not something Chad is willing to do, he’s always wary of the “I’m doing this for your own good” mentality. It’s a slippery slope.

Inoue, Orihime, has a much better idea, anyways – or at least a better, more achievable plan.  Chad is fine playing muscle. He has a fair idea of who to approach anyways.

(There’s something to be said for having participated in the beat downs of the majority of the local delinquents and low level yakuza, while still in middle school.)

~IiI~

Ichigo and he will walk along side, and drift further away because Chad has plans, not of the sort to get them out of town – Orihime has that covered.

(He’s pretty sure Ishida has, too.)

But Chad will plan for afterwards. They flee, but where will they run too? Will they build a home?  Keep moving? Where will they go to? Where are the bad parts of town? What will they do when they’re not completely absorbed with watching over their shoulders? How will they pay for it all?

What will keep them alive, and not just surviving? 

(Maybe that’s why the Devil encouraged Eve. What is life, if one is stagnant?  Flight, terror, there has to be something beyond this fragile line of black ice rules they’ve all been walking since Kuchiki Rukia appeared in Ichigo’s bedroom a couple of years ago.)

~IiI~

Chad…isn’t very good at expressing regret. Usually, it’s easier to just show through actions – not repeating them, things like that. Except, he’s not sure there’s anything he can do for this.

He’d forgotten, that the others hadn’t been friends with Ichigo before their first year of high school. He’d forgotten that Ichigo is very, very bad about sharing anything, for all that he ends up shouting every time they fight someone, to teach them a lesson.

(Case in point, Abarai Renji. And probably his captain, since he’s Rukia’s brother and brothers, especially being an older one, have always been a point of pride for Ichigo and that captain so very clearly failed.)

“Inoue-san,” Ishida says. “When did you speak with Kurosaki-sensei?”

“Oh, I ran into him while I was heading back from getting groceries yesterday!” Chad tenses. That couldn’t have been more staged if the man had shown up with a sign. 

“Really?  Did he say why?” Ishida clearly knows something is not right as well. Maybe Ichigo did tell him…. 

“Why?”

“Why he was saying this – did Kurosaki ask him to say something?” Ishida is getting angry and Inoue is confused.

“No,” she replies, brow furrowing, hands clenching on the desk after making an abortive move towards her hair – her hair pins, “he just said it and then asked what I was making for dinner.  He turned a bit green when I told him daikon, anko, leek, and egg soup, then left.”

That is so clearly Inoue, Chad almost wants to chuckle, but…now is not the time.

(He still wishes he could have seen Kurosaki Isshin’s face, imagining that kind of dinner.)

“So why do you think that Kurosaki would appreciate us ceasing to speak about the spirit world? He has friends there, and I’m certain he would appreciate knowing how they are doing. He also seems to appreciate knowing how many Hollows we encounter and how our fights go.”

“But Ishida-kun! Kurosaki-sensei is Kurosaki-kun’s father and he used to be a Shinigami…oh.”

Chad exchanges a grimace with Ishida, and when they look back at Inoue, she’s clearly realized that Kurosaki Isshin had an ulterior motive for speaking with her.

“Yes.  But I’m not sure he’s been a very good father,” Ishida-kun mutters.

“He…isn’t,” Chad says, grimacing. It’s not his story, not his…secret…to tell, but they need to know, especially if he wants them all to leave.

This town isn’t good for anyone right now, not unless one is willing to play by the Shinigami’s rules, and that’s not something Chad is willing to do, after seeing what Soul Society is like, what they’ve cost his friend. What they’ve cost him.

“What?” Inoue looks like she wishes she’s wrong, that what they’re implying is wrong.

Chad resigns himself to breaking that illusion for her, slowly saying, “He tends to throw and kick Ichigo around, saying it’s training. He’s been doing it for…a very long time.”

Her face couldn’t scream a greater degree of denial. But Chad, for all that he is usually a gentle giant, is not going to allow her that delusion, that Kurosaki Isshin is a good father to his eldest.

Perhaps to his daughters, but then, he wouldn’t still be alive if he wasn’t.

“How long?”

“Before I met Ichigo.”

“Damn,” Ishida curses.

Chad looks back and wonders why he never mentioned Kurosaki Isshin to the others, before Inoue ran into him.

He’s not sure it would have made much of a difference…but then, Inoue might have smacked him, given how she’s looking at the moment.

She might have killed him, rejected him from his gigai, rejected his heart from his soul, rejected his power, splattered him on the street – if it were his soul, few would have noticed.  She could have made it appear like a Hollow attack, especially if she’d called Ishida, with his Hollow bait.  She would have removed one of the reasons to stay in Karakura town, and Chad would have thanked her for it and helped stage the body, just to make sure the Shinigami didn’t look into his death too closely.

~IiI~

Chad is ready.

Chad has been ready for nearly a year, but it cuts deeply to see Ichigo so submerged in his own sorrow, his own pain. There’s nothing for it – Chad will _not_ get closer to him only to be removed by Kurosaki Isshin, by one of the Shinigami.

He might not be with his friend now, but he will not abandon him to this life.

Orihime has her own ideas that she’s working on – Chad has helped her secure new papers, new identification. He can help them navigate almost anywhere that speaks Spanish, English, a little bit of German, but Ishida can probably cover that. If the Quincy attacks are in German, even if his grandfather never taught him the language, Chad doesn’t believe for a moment that he didn’t look it up in his own time.

But there’s still a wall between them all, distance. They’re all hurting, have been hurting, and it’s easy to focus upon something else, throw themselves into work, into improving, into planning, preparing, but they’re not friends.

Not yet.

That doesn’t stop Chad from thinking about where Orihime would like to go, for planning a trip to Paris, at some point, because Ishida is in love with fashion, to a wide variety of pastry shops and sci-fi stores for Orihime, for visiting England, and the Globe Theater.

There’s a notebook, in his jacket pocket, on his nightstand, in his bag, that has plans and places and a wealth of things they can do.

He keeps it close, and it would be the second thing he packs, but he always has it on him, so when Orihime sends him the text, he’s already prepared.

Orihime has them headed to South Korea, to Hong Kong, to America, but there are no plans beyond that. That’s fine. Chad will have her back.

He accepts the moderately thick chain necklace, feels it settle and his powers feel stifled, but it’s a small price to pay for freedom.

They go and pick up Ishida, agree to meet him at the station.

Chad slips out the backdoor, using what Yoruichi taught him to step lightly, leave confusing tracks, be a whisper of shadow on the wind, a leave caught in the breeze. Orihime remains a few seconds longer to give Ishida a bracelet, and Chad can feel the tag in his pocket thrum with concentrated power. Ishida is wearing his bracelet.

His and Orihime’s tags have already been planted – two people who frequented the bar he once played at, both of whom are horrible excuses for humans, the humans he’s seen, at least.

(They aren’t aware, when the Onmitsukido arrive to take them, asleep and with satisfaction curling in their respective guts as blood dries on the knuckles of one, and another lays next to a pile of broken bottles, in a room with muffled sobs.

Their deaths are quick, and that is the only mercy Chad will grant them.)

But there’s another tag to plant, and as he ghosts through the town he knows just upon whom to plant it.

(He would be sorry, if the Shinigami wasn’t a plant, wasn’t there to keep an eye on them all, but it’s just desserts for a spy who never does any work.)

Then he’s at the platform, back in the shadows, the last one on the train by a mere second, in the last car, so he could see Ishida get on one car in front of Orihime.

The train pulls out of the station…and they’re gone.

(There’s a hole in Karakura town, a festering wound, but they’re gone and free of its bubbling tendrils.

It’s not their problem, not anymore.)

Chad’s grin is hidden in his jacket, but it’s small, and sharp, and as vicious as a shiv to the spine.

* * *

 Human Arc, Fin.

* * *

And that's a wrap, for Chad, Orihime, and Uyuu at least.

Don't forget you can always come poke me (say hi, prompt me if you want to see other parts from their point of view in the future, remind me to update, etc.) at my tumblr: fins-illusion.tumblr.com

Finally: I'm going to be on vacation from tomorrow, December 25th, until January 1st, so if I don't reply to any comments, it's not because I'm ignoring you I swear.  I'm just.  Very slow.

~Fins

**Author's Note:**

> Quote: A friend should bear his friend's infirmities.  
> Julius Caesar 4.3.85 Cassius to Brutus
> 
> Other quote: Hamlet 1.3 page 3 Polonius to Laertes


End file.
